An Unstable Chance
by flyingfishbird
Summary: When a new NCIS agent is introduced to the team, everyone is caught off guard. Gibbs seems to carry a grudge, while the new agent just looks for acceptance, hiding a past that she wishes to forget and anger she wishes would disappear.
1. Unstable

Gibbs stood in the office of Director Leon Vance, letting the silence carefully poke its way through Vance's patience. Once it did, there was absolutely no pleasure in the conversation to come.

"I'm assigning a new member to your team Gibbs."

Gibbs' blue eyes became piercing as he looked at Vance. "Are we not doing a good enough job for you?" He asked, a calm frustration floating in his deep voice.

"How well your team is doing has nothing to do with it. There are some new arrivals and they need somewhere to go."

"I don't want to train a new probie. It could put the whole team at risk." Gibbs argued, the frustration becoming more evident.

"That's why I want you to pick. And if you decide not to make the decision, I'll make it for you." Vance said, a small, but clear smirk on his face.

Gibbs noticed a stack a manila folders resting on the corner of Vance's desk. He opened the one on the top and shook his head. "Hollywood marine…" He muttered, unimpressed, and then put that file to the side. When he opened the second one, a look of surprise broke its way through Gibbs' face of stone.

"What's wrong?" Vance asked, standing up from his chair. He looked down at the file Gibbs was looking at and nodded when he read the name. "That one's a good pick."

"I didn't pick her…" Gibbs grunted, immediately closing the file and putting it to the side.

"Why not?" Vance now had a puzzled look on his face. "That is the best pick by anyone's standards."

"She's unstable." Gibbs answered gruffly

Vance shook his head. "If you say so. Take the files and get back to me when you've made your choice." Vance said before sitting back down, watching as Gibbs picked up the files and walked out of the room, then noticed that he had left the Hollywood marine, and the woman's file behind. The look on Gibbs' face when he had read the file confused Vance to no end, but he shrugged it off and looked down at the paperwork on his desk.

Only an hour passed before Gibbs returned to Vance's office with all the files.

"None of them are worth the training." Gibbs said, dropping them on the Director's desk.

"So, you pick none of them?"

"That's right." grumbled Gibbs.

"I'll pick for you then." He retorted, not appreciating Gibbs' unwilling attitude towards the new arrivals.

"No. Every single one of them will put my team at risk."

"You don't have a choice Gibbs." Vance said as he slid one of the manila folders towards him. "Meet your new team member."

Gibbs picked up the folder and opened it. As soon as he read the name, he gave Vance an angry look. "I told you she's unstable! She shot her father!"

"She had a reason Gibbs."

"People that kill at that young of an age are screwed up."

"You don't even know her Gibbs."

That caused Gibbs to become silent. This made Vance curious, but he didn't say anything about it.

"She is the best choice. Look at her training. She used to be a marine Gibbs. Doesn't that mean something to you?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Not this time."

"You're going to throw Semper Fi out the window then?"

This stopped Gibbs. Silence followed for a moment before he finally said, "I'll give her a week." Then stormed out. He would have to prepare to meet the new team member.

The silver doors of the elevator opened, revealing the warm colored walls and the agents scurrying around the room, many of them carrying papers and folders. A young woman made her way into the room. She was slender and dressed in a light blue button up blouse and black pants. Her light brown hair fell just below her shoulders and her bangs were swept to one side. Her tan skin caused her deep green eyes to stand out.

She walked to a group of three people, who were all sitting in the bullpen at desks all near each other. They seemed to be arguing. From what she could make of it, the nerdy one of the three was a victim of some prank. She guessed that it was the obnoxious one that pulled it. The only woman in the group rolled her eyes, and in doing so, she locked eyes with her.

"Ziva. What are you looking at?" Asked the obnoxious man as he turned to see. When he saw her, a confident smile grew on his face. He nearly jumped to his feet and rushed over to her.

This caused the other man to look. His jaw dropped when he saw her, and a nervous, scared look came across his face.

"Hel-lo" Tony said, getting a little too close, causing her to back away. "I'm Anthony DiNozzo. Friends call me Tony." He said, as if he practiced that line in the mirror every day.

"HiAnthony." She said, emphasizing his name. "I'm Robyn." She said, taking a step away from him.

A crushed DiNozzo, feeling the sting of rejection, made his way back to his desk, but didn't sit down. He had a look of stubbornness on his face, not giving up on getting the girl that easily.

"Do you know where I can find Gibbs?"

"You don't have to look too much harder." Appeared a new voice, causing Robyn to jump. She turned to see a silver haired, tall man standing in front of her.

A flicker of recognition hit her face, but she seemed to smother it as she just nodded. "Nice to meet you." She said, looking for a handshake. The request was denied as Gibbs walked past her, sitting at his desk. Her hand dropped her side, a hurt look flashed across her face. She shook it off and stood in front of his desk.

"Your desk is right there." Gibbs said without looking up.

Robyn just nodded, knowing Gibbs didn't see it. She walked to her desk and sat down heavily.

Tony looked stunned. "Boss?"

"That's right. Meet your new teammate."

A/N I know this is a little dry, but I promise the story will get more exciting

:D


	2. Robyn Andros

The phone rang at Gibbs' desk twice before it received a gruff "Gibbs."

McGee was trying to focus on his computer, but his eyes kept drifting over to the new team member. Robyn was graceful and modest. She wasn't pompous and annoying. And best of all, she wasn't interested in Tony. Her green eyes were intense careful. Whenever she spoke, she made eye contact. McGee liked it when girls did that, but when he looked at Robyn's eyes, he got tongue tied and was left stuttering and stammering until she looked at him like he was mentally impaired.

McGee was snapped out of his thoughts when Gibbs got to his feet. "Grab your gear. We got a dead Marine in Norfolk." He said beginning to walk. As he passed Robyn's desk he dropped the NCIS field clothes on it and a pack to carry it in. Not once did he make eye contact as he passed.

Robyn sighed and put the stuff in the black pack and got to her feet, following behind the rest of them.

The team made it to the crime scene which was surrounded by caution tape on the side of a long road with woods on either side. A mangled, pale body lay on its side. Dried blood encrusted the torso of the body's cotton, button up shirt. McGee had the job of taking pictures of the scene while Tony and Gibbs went looking for evidence in the woods.

Robyn and Ziva were looking for evidence around the body. Ziva was showing Robyn the ropes of being an NCIS agent.

Robyn hadn't noticed that she was now looking for evidence near McGee.

"Hi." McGee said, one corner of his mouth rising, forming a soft half smile.

Robyn looked up at him with her piercing eyes and an amused smile. "How many times am I going to have to say 'hi' to you today?"

McGee then remembered having said 'hi' to her when she walked in this morning, and then he remembered saying 'hello' to her only a few minutes after that. Then he had said 'hi' once again right before lunch. This was the fourth time he had greeted her. He wanted to slap himself.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not used to new people." McGee said, desperation filling his voice.

"Don't worry about it." She said, wondering why he was getting so worked up. She even thought that she saw beads of sweat start to form on his forehead.

McGee made the mistake of looking into her eyes and the fumbling of the words began. "I-uh. J-just um." He stopped, thinking of what to say. When he saw Robyn beginning to lose interest, and look almost disappointed.

"I'm recovering from a concussion." McGee blurted out. It was a lie, but that was the first thing that came to his mind. He wanted to hit himself for about the seventh time today, but then he realized that he sounded somewhat interesting when he said that. "That's why I'm acting this way." He added, gaining confidence. To his horror, he heard the hilarious laughter coming from Ziva. To make things worse, the disappointed look never left Robyn's face.

Knowing he had to think quick to come up with how he had gotten 'a concussion' before Robyn truly wouldn't believe him he blurted without thinking hard enough, "I was at my apartment and I fell getting out of the shower!" It was, once again, the first thing that popped into his mind. He shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to see the look on either Ziva's or Robyn's face.

"Sounds like you need one of those Life Alert pendants McAccident." Emerged the amused voice of Tony from behind. "Or Bath Fitter. They can give you a handicapped accessible shower or bath in one business day." Tony added with a smug smile.

"Shut up Tony." McGee grumbled.

"Open your eyes McGee. You don't get paid to just stand around." Gibbs joined in.

Finally gaining the courage to open his eyes. When he did, he wished that he hadn't seen that look Robyn gave him. It wasn't the look on her face. Her face was as smooth and flawless as ever, but her eyes showed pure frustration and even more disappointment than before. McGee had to look away, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.

"Alright, what do we know about our dead Marine?" Gibbs asked, standing in front of the television which now projected a picture of the dead man.

"Well boss." Tony began confidently. "His name is Jason Roberts. Twenty-seven years old. He had a wife named Terry, no kids."

"His address is 1909 Berkley Street." Ziva joined in.

"Do we have any idea who could have killed him?" Gibbs inquired.

"We have the murder weapon which Abby is testing for fingerprints now." McGee added.

"Well. Let's pay his wife a visit." Gibbs said evenly.

"Wait. There was a piece of a suit found hanging on a branch." Robyn added quickly.

Gibbs turned to look at her and suddenly Robyn wished she hadn't said anything. She was given an icy glare that even made the rest of the team grimace.

"So?" Gibbs growled.

"S-so…it was an expensive suit. Very expensive. So…I think we can rule out the murderer being financially unstable…" She said, struggling to keep eye contact.

Gibbs didn't take his eyes off her as he said, "Tony…Ziva…We are going to talk to Roberts' wife." He finally turned, making his way to the elevator.

"I didn't even get that bad a look when I spilt his coffee…" McGee whispered to Robyn. He watched her smile the most convincing smile he had ever seen. But when he saw the hurt look in her eyes, it broke his heart.

"He'll warm up to you. Don't worry." He said softly.

She shook her head, the smile gone. "No…He won't." she mumbled as she got to her feet, walking towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" He asked, still sitting.

"To solve the case. What else?"

McGee sighed and rose to his feet, rushing after her. "I'm helping."


	3. Grudges

Robyn and McGee were at the crime site once again, but this time exploring a wider range of ground. They never roamed too far away from each other, always keeping each other in sight and earshot.

It had been silent for a long while, except for the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath their feet and an occasional small animal zipping through the foliage restlessly.

"Why are you trying so hard to impress Gibbs?" McGee asked, too nervous to look up from the ground.

Robyn looked over at him, as if surprised by the sudden questioning. She shrugged, even though he wasn't even looking at her. It was more to convince herself.

"I don't know." Was all she said.

"Yes you do. You have to have a reason." McGee argued.

"No I don't." She retorted hastily.

"Well Gibbs-"

"Well Gibbs is a stubborn hypocrite!" Robyn interrupted. Anger filled her voice. As soon as she said that, she knew she had made a mistake.

"Why are you saying that? You've only known him for barely a day and a half." McGee muttered in confusion, not understanding why Robyn had snapped. But in response to what he had said, McGee received only cruel silence before he came to a realization.

"How long have you known him Robyn?"

"Long enough…" She said softly.

McGee opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by an enthusiastic "Come look at this!" It was as if everything that was said before was just forgotten as McGee approached Robyn cautiously.

"What is it?" He asked as he looked down, receiving a silent answer. The ground was covered with dried blood. The bloody earth seemed to be disturbed, as if something had been dragged through the woods. Robyn just looked up at McGee.

"This way." She said quickly before following the bloody trail. Eventually the blood disappeared as the dead Marine, Jason Roberts' body finally bled out, but the drag marks still showed through flattened grass, and broken twigs. McGee stopped walking which confused Robyn.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Roberts stopped bleeding a few yards back. And he was being dragged." McGee announced.

"Yeah. So?"

"Well…Then why is there blood on the trunk of this tree?"

Robyn looked surprised as she turned and walked back to the tree, seeing a partial bloody handprint. She smiled and said, "I think we have our killer."

McGee wasted no time as he got a swab of the blood and carefully bagged the piece of bark that held the print.

They continued walking until the trail suddenly stopped. There weren't even any footprints.

"This just got weird." Robyn muttered, beginning to think out loud. "Why did the killer even move the body in the first place? Nobody even goes that far back in these woods. Somebody wanted the body to be found. And how does the trail just disappear like this?"

"The killer could have decided to carry the body." McGee suggested.

"Then where are the footprints? Absolutely nothing here is disturbed. Not even a blade of grass."

McGee thought for a moment before speaking. "Let's get back. Tony, Ziva, and Gibbs should be back soon."

Robyn nodded. "Okay." She muttered as they made their way back to the car.

"Where are they?" Gibbs roared, seething with rage. "I didn't tell them to go anywhere!"

"I don't know boss." DiNozzo responded nervously.

"Maybe they are speaking with Abby or Ducky." Ziva chimed in. She looked over at Tony, knowing this wasn't going to end well for anyone.

The doors of the elevator opened at that moment revealing both Robyn and McGee.

"Boss!" McGee said with a slight smile. "We found new evidence in-"

"New evidence McGee? Can you tell me who killed this Marine?" Gibbs shouted.

The smile disappeared from McGee's face. "No…no I can't. Yet, I mean. I can't tell you who killed him yet sir."

"McGee-"

Robyn got between the two and looked up at Gibbs. She straightened up, as if at attention. "It was my idea sir."

Gibbs glared at her angrily.

"We…didn't have much to go on, so I figured that we might have missed something. McGee only wanted to help. It wasn't his idea." She tried to explain, hoping Gibbs would understand.

"McGee." He growled. "Get to your desk."

"But boss-"

"Did that sound like a suggestion?" That caused McGee to look down at Robyn with an apologetic look as he walked to his desk with no further input.

Gibbs glowered at Robyn before marching to the elevator. Robyn looked at the rest of the team and all of them were waving their hands, as if trying to tell her to follow him.

Before she could make a move to the elevator, she heard Gibbs' fierce voice shout, "Are you waiting for an invitation?"

Robyn sighed as she turned and made her way back to the elevator. The silver doors met each other in the middle, closing Robyn off from the safety of a bright, colorful room filled with the agents of NCIS. Now she was in a small, confined space with a man that hated her. The light was penetrating. She felt like she was getting interrogated.

"Where are we go-" Robyn began, but she was cut off by the sudden halt of the elevator.

The lights went off and the gliding, calming sound of the elevator died and was replaced by, "What is the matter with you? I didn't tell you to go back out there!"

"I know…but I knew that there was more evidence." Robyn argued.

"This is why I didn't want you on my team!"

These words stung Robyn more than Gibbs would ever know. She just shook her head. "That's not the reason. You just want me gone! You never wanted to see me again, so this must really suck for you."

Gibbs hit the side of the metallic elevator with the side of his fist, creating a loud reverberating 'boom'. "Then why are you here? You know that I don't want you here!"

"I want to prove that I'm not that same kid you knew!"

Gibbs just stared at her for a moment then shook his head. "You'll never prove anything to me. Not after what you did." He turned away from her and pressed a button on the elevator and suddenly the lights came back on and the elevator began lowering once again.

"That's not fair." Robyn snapped as she pressed the emergency stop, the elevator jerking to a halt once again.

"Not fair? You're a murderer who should rot in prison!"

"That's not true! You don't know the story!"

"Enlighten me." Gibbs hissed.

Silence followed after Robyn stopped making eye contact with Gibbs, who just shook his head angrily and hit the button which made the lights flicker on once again and the gentle hum of the elevator come to life.

"He was my best friend…" Gibbs said, more to himself than to her.

"He was my father."


	4. Grown Up

Robyn stepped out of the elevator as the doors slid open all too slowly. Gibbs had gotten off the elevator in what she thought was the forensics lab leaving Robyn to make the walk of shame to the bullpen by herself. To her relief, halfway to the bullpen, she was met by a frantic McGee.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let you go. I should have stopped you. I should have-"

"McGee. Calm down." Robyn responded with a warm smile, despite how cold she felt. "I knew what I was getting into. I shouldn't have let you come along. It was a dumb idea."

"Don't say that. We found evidence that was important to this case." He said without hesitation.

She shook her head from side to side slowly. "Tell that to Gibbs." She said as she walked around him towards her desk, leaving him standing there. She heard him sigh heavily, as if he was exhausted. She sat down and slumped down in the chair, her hands folded on her stomach casually as they all waited in silence for Gibbs to come back up.

Abby was diligently studying the evidence that both Robyn and McGee had delivered. It was exciting because she had never met Robyn before, and while most people, when they first meet Abby, look at her strangely and try to find ways to get away from her, Robyn would just smile, letting Abby know that she wasn't desperate to get out of there. From what Abby saw, Robyn didn't look like she wanted to leave the forensics lab at all. To top it all off, the evidence was amazing. It wasn't often when they found that much useful evidence, especially evidence that useful.

"What'd you got Abs?" Gibbs asked, seeing her jump.

"One of these days Gibbs, I will catch on to your sneaky ways." Abby warned as she spun around, putting a finger in his face. Gibbs gently pushed her finger away with a slight smirk. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by another one of Abby's rants about nothing.

"Oh yeah! And Gibbs, I met the new recruit! She is amazing! Have you seen the evidence that she gathered? It could solve the-"

"No Abby…I haven't seen the evidence…and she is not staying. Don't get attached." Gibbs interrupted with a frown, but this just gave Abby a confused and hurt look.

"Why?"

"I'm not here to discuss my plans for the team Abs…"

Abby became quiet, but only for a second. "Anyway, the blood that Robyn found on the tree doesn't match our victim."

"Whose is it?"

"Well, that is what I am trying to find out Gibbs, but whose ever it is, I bet it's the same person who left this fingerprint." Abby said, pointing to the piece of bloody bark with a smooth swirly finger print in the middle.

Gibbs nodded, "Anything else?"

"Not at the moment. I'm still trying to fit the pieces together." She answered swiftly. When Gibbs started walking away she added, "Gibbs, where is my Caf-Pow?"

"You'll get it when you figure out who that print belongs to." He answered as the glass door slid open and closed just as quickly as he walked through. He left Abby to ponder about that visit. Something was up with Gibbs, and she knew it. Something was definitely wrong.

It was time for everyone to go home. They had made practically no headway in this case and everyone was worn out. McGee stood in front of Robyn's desk and she was laughing about something he said. McGee was laughing along, but not because of what he said, because he was happy that she thought he was funny, and the fact that he didn't screw up the sentence.

Tony and Ziva flashed each other a knowing look, holding back a snicker. They stood up, turning off their computers and gathered their things. They didn't speak until they were within the silence of the elevator.

"What are you thinking?" Ziva asked.

"I'm thinking that our little probie is growing up." Tony answered, wiping away a fake tear.

"Agreed."

"Robyn doesn't seem to be picking up on the signals."

"No. She does not. What confuses me is what is going on between her and Gibbs." Ziva said thoughtfully.

"Nothing good from the looks of it." He looked down at her and added, "It's been a long day. Want to go get a drink with me?" This caused Ziva to smile a little. "That sounds interesting, but unfortunately I cannot."

"Why not?" Tony asked curiously.

"I have plans."

"What kind of plans?" As Tony finished his sentence, the elevator doors opened and Ziva stepped out without another word, obviously having no intention of informing Tony about her plans for the night.

Meanwhile, McGee was packing up, along with Robyn. McGee stood up first, deciding to wait for Robyn so he wouldn't have to suffer the cold loneliness of riding the elevator alone.

When Robyn stood up, Gibbs decided to make his move. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked evenly.

"Well…I was actually thinking that I was going to go home. Thanks for asking." She answered, knowing what was coming.

"No you're not. You want to solve this case, so do it."

"But Gibbs, how can I when the team is gone, along with forensics and autopsy? What you are asking me to do is to just sit around here and do nothing!"

"Or" Gibbs chimed in, "You could walk out and not come back in the morning. Your choice." He finished as he looked over at McGee. "What are you standing around here for McGee? Go home." Gibbs ordered firmly.

McGee looked just as surprised and frustrated as Robyn, and he didn't even have to stay after hours. None the less, he swallowed his pride, just like many times before and muttered, "Yes boss." as he turned and began to make the crushing walk to the elevator. The doors closed behind him and the mocking hum as the elevator descended rang in his ears restlessly.

Gibbs turned his attention back to Robyn, and for a moment, his eyes could have easily been mistaken for kind. "You've grown up." was all he said.

"It tends to happen." She muttered angrily. "Since I was what? Fourteen the last time you saw me?"

"Thirteen." Gibbs corrected. "You were thirteen."

"That's right. I remember now. You were helping me work on what was going to be my first car. Three years in advance." She said softly.

"The most broken down car I have ever seen. It probably would have taken three years." Gibbs added.

"Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore." Robyn answered swiftly, never making eye contact with him. It hurt her too much. Gibbs decided that he shouldn't say anything more as he began walking away. His stiff footsteps were all Robyn heard in the silence of the bullpen. She sighed heavily and held her face in her hands. She was angry, not understanding why nobody believed her story of what had happened that night. She hadn't been the best kid back then, always getting into trouble, but she did good things too, but nobody looked at those moments when they decided to accuse her. She pushed those thoughts aside and looked down at her desk.

Robyn got to her feet carefully and gathered all the evidence files on this case that she could and read through them. She even visited the forensics lab and autopsy more than once, looking at the information found.

It was 4:00 a.m. when she found what she was looking for. She grinned, fighting back the urge to shout, "YES!" She was successful and instead just laughed like a little kid on Christmas.

She had solved the case.

**Thank you to all who have reviewed and added this story to their alerts. I really appreciate it. I am also sorry that these posts are so far apart. I am trying my best to find time to write, but it is getting difficult, so bear with me please :D**


	5. Believe Me

McGee came in early for work the next day. He hadn't slept all night. He was too busy worrying about Robyn. The elevator and McGee seemed to have a disagreement on how fast it should go. Needless to say, the elevator won that argument and McGee made it to the correct floor on the elevator's terms. The silver doors opened patiently, finally letting an impatient McGee out of its cell like confines.

He rushed towards the bullpen, trying not to look in a hurry but he wasn't succeeding. He was relieved when he finally made it, able to look as frantic as he wanted; hidden by the walls of the cubicles.

"Robyn?" He said in almost a whisper as he looked around, wondering where she was. When he didn't get an answer he was suddenly worried that she had left and that Gibbs had fired her. When he had almost lost hope, he heard what sounded like beeping that happened when you lost a phone connection. The beeping was coming from Robyn's desk. He approached cautiously, being careful not to wake her up if she was even asleep.

Robyn's head was lying on the desk, the phone's receiver under her right hand. Her left arm tucked securely under her head, supporting it against the hard, cold desk. Just as McGee was thinking about waking her up, he heard the elevator doors open. He looked up and saw Gibbs, coffee in hand, making his way to the bullpen. It was all that McGee could do to hold back a curse word.

"McGee." He announced, as if his name were the most complicated of calculus problems. "What are you doing here so early?" McGee opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted when the phone's incessant beeping reached Gibbs' ears. "Get that damned beeping to stop would you?" Gibbs asked, but it was no question. It was an order. He sat down at his desk, taking a quick sip of his coffee and setting it down next to his computer.

McGee sighed as he reached over Robyn to get the receiver from her hand and hang up the phone. Just as he did this, Robyn began waking up, only to find some blurry figure reaching for her. She jumped from her seat and grabbed McGee's arm, twisting it in such a way that it ended up behind his back, searing pain going through his elbow and shoulder. He winced as his eyes clenched shut.

"I see you're awake." He said painfully.

Robyn blinked and seemed to finally realize who this figure was. "Oh. Hi McGee." She said as she let go, letting McGee slowly pull his arm back to his side, stretching it in an attempt to make the pain go away faster. "Sorry." She said softly, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. She finally heard the beeping and picked up the receiver and hung up the phone calmly. This caused her to remember why she had had the phone in her hand in the first place. "Oh! Is Gibbs here?" She asked with a bright grin.

"Over here." Gibbs said calmly, waving his hand in her direction but not once looking up.

Robyn walked over to his desk, the grin never leaving her face. "Well Gibbs, guess what."

Gibbs just looked up, a slight glare focused on her, indicating that he wasn't going to lower himself and actually respond with the 'what?' that she was so desperately looking for. Robyn evidently picked up on this and continued her statement anyway, deciding that the word 'what' was not as important as she thought it would be. It would be just as satisfying if he said it or not. "I solved the case."

Instead of responding, Gibbs just took another sip of coffee, letting her explain. "Our murderer's name is Warren Davis, or should I say, Doctor Warren Davis?"

Gibbs looked up at her with a slightly interested look. "Alright, tell me how you found this out." He said evenly, his lips pursed together curiously.

"Well, before that I was left all by myself; this place is actually very creepy at night. Just thought that you should know, since you were the one who decided to leave me here to solve the ca-"

"Get on with it!" Gibbs shouted, losing his patience quickly.

"Okay…no need to get all mad. Anyway, I caught Dr. Mallard, or do you guys call him Ducky? Nice guy by the way. Well, I caught him before he left and he said that Roberts was shot twice, but the strange part was that he couldn't find the bullets, and there were no exit wounds. Then he discovered that the bullet holes were bigger than they should and he found out that the bullets had been removed by the murderer cutting then out with a scalpel.

"That was only the first clue indicating that Davis was the murderer. The second was the fingerprint along with the blood. We cannot match the DNA because we don't have anything to match his blood with, but the blood on the tree was AB+, which is the same as Davis' blood type, and the fingerprint was a dead on match with Davis."

"Anything else?" Gibbs asked, getting ready to stand up.

"One more thing. Davis is rich. Insanely rich. He was born into money and he inherited it when his father died. That explains the expensive suit fabric that we found. Turns out that Richards had borrowed money and invested it all on stuff that didn't go anywhere. Basically he lost it all. And it was a lot of money. I think that Davis got angry and killed Richards."

Gibbs nodded; acting like he wasn't impressed, but Robyn caught what looked like a Gibbs famous half smile. She remembered what that meant. He looked proud. He stood up just as the elevator doors opened once again, except this time, that wasn't the only sound there was. There was also the sound of arguing.

"If you refer to one more movie, I promise I will claw your eyes out!" Came Ziva's voice as she approached the bullpen. "All I said was 'I do not care'!"

"And that is a famous line from the movie 'The Fugitive'!" Tony argued.

"Everyone says 'I do not care'!"

"It was the concept I guess." Tony said calmly, his eyes venturing away towards Gibbs who seemed to be getting ready to go somewhere. "What's going on boss?" Tony asked curiously.

"We have our killer." He answered, walking past them without saying anything more. Everyone was getting ready and off to the elevator. Robyn just stood, thinking that she was not invited on this little field trip. Her eyes lit up when she heard Gibbs' voice saying, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up." He ordered. She grinned and quickly went to the elevator, hiding a childish grin.

The team arrived at Dr. Warren Davis' home around 8:45 a.m. on a Wednesday. Gibbs and DiNozzo went to his door. Ziva and McGee were there for backup and Robyn was just there to observe. They all stood next to the cars.

Gibbs rang the doorbell which played a short and a sharp, choppy segment from Beethoven's Fur Elise as good as a doorbell could. This caused Tony to be quite disturbed. The house was huge and beautiful. It was the classic, rich tan with a brown shingled roof that looked like it had the possibility of skylights, but it was difficult to tell due to the angle at which they were. The door was tall and arched at the very top. It held a stained glass window near the top which consisted of bright colors, such as green, purple, yellow, and a soft purple.

The door opened with a creak that was only heard in horror movies before that moment when all the people in the movie were killed brutally except for the hero and their boyfriend or girlfriend. Before Tony could make his favorite horror movie reference, a surprisingly bright and smiley man stood before them. He wore a tan, almost white suit with matching pants, a fashionable white button up shirt under the coat and a black tie. He had jet black hair on the top of his head, but he was graying at the temples, giving the young doctor a look of wisdom.

"Can I help you?" Davis asked in the classic sophisticated rich voice or a rich man.

Gibbs answered with a flash of his badge and the words, "NCIS. You are under arrest for the murder of Jason Roberts."

DiNozzo pulled out the handcuffs, quickly clipping one of them to Davis' wrist. In that moment, Davis' smile vanished and was replaced by sudden violent understanding. "What do you think you're doing? Do you know who I am? I am the famous Doctor Warren Davis! I've saved more lives than any of you ever will! I'm a god!" By the time he was finished, he was being led to the car with both of his wrists trapped by the handcuffs. Even though he knew this, he began struggling, shouting repeatedly, "I'm a god! I'm a god!"

His shouts were suddenly muffled by the closing of a car door. The team looked at one another and then at the new member of the team. Each of them were smiling, except, of course, Gibbs.

Later that night, celebrating the success of the case, Robyn sat at the bar, beer in hand. The rest of the team had left a while ago. Gibbs hadn't come. She guessed that they all left around 1:00. McGee had stayed until about 1:30. She looked at her watch which read 2:47 and sighed bitterly. She thought about leaving, but the beer was still half full. She rubbed her forehead as she found herself thinking about Gibbs and her father, and the night that caused Gibbs to turn his back on her.

"It's a little late. Don't you think?" Gibbs asked roughly, interrupting Robyn's thoughts.

"Yeah, well I don't have anything better to do." She said, looking over at him, a bit surprised to see him sitting down on the stool next to her. "What are you doing here?"

Gibbs was silent for a moment, making her think that he wasn't going to answer. She opened her mouth to ask again, but he decided to answer. "I want to know the truth. He was a great marine, and a great man."

Robyn looked down at her beer and laughed, clearly suffering from a buzz. "He wasn't a great man Gibbs. I never understood why you didn't pick up on that."

Gibbs was silent, clearly waiting for elaboration. She continued, "What was special about him was that…" She hesitated, "That he didn't need drugs, or alcohol to be violent. It came naturally to him. I don't suppose it helped that he was a marine."

Gibbs looked over at her and shook his head. "You two never had bruises."

"I wore long sleeves Gibbs. He never touched Billy until-" She cut herself off, not sure how to continue.

"Until what Robyn?"

"Until… the night of the fire."


	6. Bad Mood

Gibbs looked over at Robyn, who just stared down at her beer. She was unable to look at him and he knew it. "What was different?"

Robyn answered with a shrug, followed by, "He was just starting to back talk him." She paused to take a quick sip of her beer before continuing. "I think the reason he was so angry was because Billy was turning out to be like me. Then I tried helping Billy by getting myself into trouble. That was why I did all that stuff Gibbs. Not because I was looking to get into trouble. I had to. To protect Billy. He was only six." She finally looked over at Gibbs, whose face had darkened when he came to the realization that she hadn't been a bad kid. She had gotten herself into the worst kind of trouble over the years, and Gibbs even had to pick her up from jail on a few occasions, which now seemed odd that she had never called her own father to pick her up. Now it was starting to make sense.

She carried a look of desperation that Gibbs had seen on the first day, but she had hidden it well, until that moment. He had no intention of speaking now. He waited for her to finish the rest of the story. To his surprise, his gut was telling him to believe her.

"Dad started to realize why I was doing all those things and immediately started focusing on Billy. That was when I got the gun from his closet. I didn't want to use it. I didn't even think that I could pull the trigger. Not initially." She stopped and took one last sip of her beer, which now tasted bitter on her tongue. She looked down at her watch, which now read 3:05.

"Gibbs. I have to go." She said as she stood up from the stool, and without another word she walked to the door, her heart aching with the sour memories that she had pushed to the back of her mind for years.

_December 21__st__, 1991 8: 10 p.m._

_ "Billy." Whispered the shaky voice of a thirteen year old, Robyn Andros, as she knelt down. "Daddy is in a bad mood. Understand?" She asked as she gripped the shoulders of a small boy, approximately six years old. He was dressed in Scooby Doo pajamas, with matching slippers._

_ "But Robyn. Daddy was s'possed to read me a story before I went to bed."_

_ "I'm sorry buddy. I'll read to you later."_

_ "Okay. You read better anyway. He doesn't do the voices." Billy said with a bright smile, revealing a gap where his front left tooth used to be. It had fallen out just the night before._

_ Robyn smiled softly. "I'll be up in a second. Go on to bed now." She said nudging him slightly, watching his smile fade. "Are you two going to fight again?" Billy asked, looking down at his feet. The question broke Robyn's heart. She was trying so hard to make life good for him, but she was too young to have that much responsibility. She was supposed to be a sister, not a mother, but she didn't have a choice. Her father had taken that choice away when her mother died when she was eight._

_ "I don't know Billy." She answered softly._

_ "Liar…" Billy muttered under his breath, but Robyn heard it clearly._

_ "Listen to me. I'm trying really hard to make this work. But damn it, I'm not mom. Okay?"_

_ Billy just blinked as he looked at her with his bright green eyes, identical to Robyn's. He hugged her neck. "I know Robyn. But you're trying. That's what makes you so cool."_

_ Robyn looked stunned for a moment as tears filled her eyes. She hugged him tightly, trembling as the tears flowed freely. She was scared. Not for herself, but for Billy. If he was ever hurt, she would blame herself._

_ "I love you Robyn." Billy muttered._

_ "I love you too."_

Gibbs knew all too well that Robyn didn't have to leave. She had been like a second daughter to him when Shannon and Kelly were alive. And Billy had been like a son. The corner of his mouth rose slightly as he remembered the car that he had helped her fix up. It was a 1967; lime green Ford Mustang with two black racing strips going down the middle. Robyn had customized it by painting a black stripe that went down the length of both sides of the car, which curved around the slight bulge in the metal at the wheels. She had also put a thinly painted "R" on both doors.

When she had gotten the car, the green had dulled and was covered in dust and mud. The black line across the side of the car wasn't there; neither were the black racing stripes. The front right tire was popped while the back right tire was completely gone. There was a dent on the bumper, which was half fallen off. All but one headlight was busted and the windshield had a crack in it right down the middle. The biggest dent was located on the passenger's door, where all the paint was scratched and chipped off. The car was a wreck, but Robyn had been determined to fix it. She had been a stubborn and strong willed kid, and she had not changed at all, personality wise.

Gibbs stayed at the bar for a few more minutes before he stood up, making his way towards the exit, beginning to question himself. He was wondering if he had acted too rashly those nineteen years ago; and even now.

_July 7__th__, 1990_

_ "Gibbs!" Robyn shouted ecstatically, practically jumping up and down. "Come on! I have to show you something! It's in the shed!" She grinned as she led him to the light green shed that stood in the back yard._

_ "Why would it be in the shed?" Gibbs asked curiously, a slight crack of a smile on his face._

_ "This is why." She said as she gripped the metal handles to the two doors. She pulled hard, finding that the doors got stuck every now and then. The doors burst open, this time opening as if they were brand new. They created a loud bang as they hit the side of the shed. This caught Robyn off guard and she fell backwards, only to have Gibbs catch her. She didn't lose a step as she hopped out of his arms and inside the shed, Gibbs following. When he saw the mustang, he laughed._

_ "Do you ever think before you do anything?"_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "You just turned 13. And you bought a car. One that looks like it will never run."_

_ She just smiled brightly. "I'll fix it. It'll take a while but I can do it." With that, she picked up a wrench and held it out to him. "Of course, I'm going to need a little help." She said hopefully. Gibbs couldn't say no to that face. She had the same spark about her that both Shannon and Kelly had. The shine in her eye just couldn't be taken from her._

_ "Alright." Gibbs finally said as he took the wrench. "Maybe we should get the parts for it first."_


	7. Three Shots

Robyn sat at her desk, suffering from a slight hangover. The conversation she had with Gibbs kept playing through her pounding head. She remembered that car. She had worked so hard to get that thing running. It had been one of the few things that helped her get her mind off of her father. She shook her head, trying to erase the memories from her mind but it was in vain, for those memories would stay with her forever. She finally heard the hum of the elevator as McGee stepped out, holding a paper bag and two cups of coffee. He approached her desk hesitantly, setting the paper bag and a coffee on her desk.

"I didn't know what you liked in it…so I guessed." He said softly. Robyn blinked as she looked up at him with slightly confused eyes as he continued. "And I got a bagel for you. I know you're probably not hungry right now, but you will be." He said, as if sensing her stomach churning at the thought of eating anything at the moment as the hangover lingered.

"Thank you McGee." Robyn said softly as she looked up at him with a soft smile. What he had done meant a lot to her and that caused McGee to smile in return as he walked to his own desk and sat down. As Robyn took a sip of coffee, the bitter sweet taste coated her tongue. The warmth relaxed her to the point of content and she found herself having an easy conversation with McGee. He rolled his chair in front of her desk and they just sat and talked like they were best friends. When the elevator opened again, it was Ziva. McGee rolled back to his desk with a smile plastered to his face.

"Where is Tony?" Ziva asked, noticing the funny smile on McGee's face, but decided to ignore it, already knowing why he was so happy.

"I don't know. But if he doesn't show up soon, Gibbs is going to kill him." McGee muttered.

"Kill who McGee?" asked a gruff voice from behind him. He turned and saw Gibbs standing there, looking at his team.

"Uh, I- um…no one boss."

"No one? Except for DiNozzo. Is that right McGee?" Gibbs asked as he made his way to his desk impatiently as he set his coffee down, glancing at Robyn then down at his desk, leaving a stammering McGee on his own. This annoyed Robyn to no end. She felt like this was a game to Gibbs, but of course, an unfair one. Gibbs locked eyes with Robyn and walked to the elevator. Robyn knew this meant to follow him. She jumped to her feet, discovering she got up to fast as she practically lost feeling in her head. Despite that feeling, she made her way to the elevator.

Once the doors closed, she looked at Gibbs who was just waiting patiently. "Well?" She asked, wanting to get this meeting over with. Gibbs was silent as the elevator started moving. He pressed the emergency stop and finally looked at Robyn.

"You want me to understand? Then explain it to me." Gibbs said flatly.

"I don't want to talk about it…"

"Then what do you expect me to think?"

"I don't know Gibbs!" Robyn snapped. "Do you realize what you're asking me to do? What if I kept asking you what happened to Shannon and Kelly? It would really start hurting you wouldn't it?" Tears started welling up in her eyes and she turned away in an effort to hide them. She slid down to a sitting position against the elevator wall. Gibbs accompanied her a moment later, not saying anything.

"I'm sorry…Please don't hate me Gibbs. Billy already does. I can't handle you hating me too." Her voice was strained, cracking at the very end. Gibbs put a fatherly arm around her and pulled her close. She knew that Gibbs wanted to know about Billy so she forced herself to continue. "He lives somewhere in DC. He's so smart Gibbs. He works for this huge book publisher as an editor." There was a long pause as she thought something over. "He thinks that it was my fault…and he's right. He hasn't spoken to me since we were separated at the adoption agency. I didn't try hard enough to keep us together."

"You were a kid…" Gibbs said tenderly.

"It doesn't matter…none of it matters anymore. I don't even know why I'm here. I just wanted someone to understand that-"She was cut off by a strangled sound from her throat as a sob escaped her but she would not let the tears fall despite how much it was killing her.

"I was nine when if first started. He had already hated me after my mom died. He started hitting me over a bad test grade, or not cleaning the house before he got home. But every night, after he had gotten all his anger out on his human punching bag, he would come into my room. It was like he was apologizing in the sickest way you could imagine. I didn't know what to do…so I just pretended I was sleeping. After a while, I wouldn't pretend to be asleep anymore, but that didn't stop him like I thought that it would." Gibbs hid the surprised look with some difficulty. He never even suspected that his friend, the man he had known for so many years even thought about doing something so sick to a child, let alone his daughter. He couldn't believe he never noticed any of this before.

"So four years later…when I was thirteen, I had enough. I was just going to threaten him with the gun, making him understand that it just wasn't going to happen anymore. I should have known something was wrong when all he did was smile. He started apologizing…saying that it would never happen again." She looked at Gibbs, as if making sure he was still following. Of course he was, but Robyn didn't want to take the chance. He was the only person that she wanted to understand what really happened that night.

"A few days went by and everything was going great. He was starting to be a father to Billy again. But one night I woke up and to Billy screaming and something that smelled awful, like gasoline…"

_December 25__th__, 1991 2:00 a.m._

"_Daddy! Stop! You're scaring me!" screamed the young boy. His desperate pleas only answered by a whispered, "Shh…you're going to wake your sister." But it was too late. The little boy's sister was already awake, hearing the disturbing conversation happening right outside her bedroom door. If that wasn't enough to cause her to get out of bed, the smell certainly was._

_The air smelled strongly of gasoline and lighter fluid. It took Robyn a moment to wake up before she realized what was going on. She jumped out of bed and ran out of her room into the hallway, slipping suddenly on the strangely wet hardwood floor. This sent her crashing into the man that she was forced to learn how to hate. The foul smell seemed to seep from his very core, which encouraged Robyn all the more to push herself off of him, which pushed him back as well. All she could remember after that was the look of pure rage and hate seething from those dark, pit-like eyes._

_Waking up was the next thing that worked itself into the thirteen year old's memory. Then the pain. Flames danced throughout the hall, seeming to laugh at the pain that it was so eager to inflict on the already damaged child. The fabric of her blue hooded sweatshirt was the first to greet the sadistic flame as it began to just eat it away. It took no time before it reached the skin of her right arm, making its way to her shoulder before she awoke to this severe pain._

_Robyn was on her feet, mind clouded as she witnessed the flames eat away at her skin. She tried to pat it out in sudden, sick desperation. When that failed, she flung the hooded sweatshirt off of her, leaving her with her green tank-top and grey sweatpants. In her mind she was screaming 'Help' as loud as she could, but it never reached her lips. Everything had an orange hue as the fire glowed in the darkness, rising from the floor and climbing the walls like some hellish demon._

_Robyn's feet were bare, but she had no time to think about that as she turned to her room, grabbing the gun from beneath her mattress. Well, that's what she would have done if the gun had been there. Instead, she was left feebly grabbing at a weapon that had been long gone since the moment she had been knocked out and left behind. She felt like just giving up and waiting for the fire to take her away, but then she remembered Billy. She couldn't let that man raise him. She turned towards the door, her lungs beginning to burn as the smoke made its way into her system. The more she looked at the fire, the more afraid she became, so she made her decision. She sprinted down the hallway as fast as she could, nearly running into the banister of the stairs which were practically invisible through the thick smoke. She descended quickly, skipping the last four steps which nearly cost her, her balance, which was all she had at the moment._

_When she reached the bottom, she plunged herself through the door leading outside into the freezing night air. She was left gasping and coughing so hard that she vomited twice in the once pure white snow. Her face was smeared with black soot as sweat beaded on her forehead. Her stomach felt sour as she emptied what felt like the last bit of life she had left. Her feet were blistered and scorched, along with her right arm and shoulder. Every time she breathed she felt as if she was ready to pass out. She was in agony as she looked up and saw her father standing with Billy, whose eyes were wide with unmistakable shock._

_Robyn and her father were only feet away as she saw the gun being raised. "Be still." Her father said with chilling calmness. All she could think to do was close her eyes. She had lost by a landslide._

_She heard the gun fire, but she didn't feel the bullet hit. Then she heard the struggle. Billy had latched on to their father's arm, pulling it down at a painful angle, causing him to drop the gun and push Billy hard into the snow. He began to approach Billy, anger consuming him in that moment. Robyn ran to the gun without hesitation. She picked it up in one swift movement, aimed, and before he could even touch the boy, he had three bullets in his back._


End file.
